Living on River Time

“Is it cold there yet?”

That’s the question I get from everyone I talk to as winter starts to set in. My mom will send me pictures of the beautiful fall colors in northern Idaho with a frozen face emoji, and my sister will send memes of Randy Parker in A Christmas Story all bundled up and barely able to walk.

“It’s not that bad.” Is usually my reply while reading off a temperature that’s somewhere between freezing and single digits. Then I mentally kick myself at how silly I sound. Of course it’s cold! But it’s only cold comparatively to other places I’ve lived and where I grew up.

Every holiday, my parents do the phone-tree rounds with relatives who lived too far away to come to the house for tamales or Thanksgiving ham. Among the rounds was always my uncle and aunt who lived in Montana. My grandmother (mom’s mom), would always shake her head whenever we talked about him. She’d say something like “It’s too cold up there. You go outside and the hairs in your nose freeze. Oof!” This was always accompanied by a whole-body shiver that would make my mom laugh. We would always poke fun at his response to the cold temperatures from our balmy 65 and sunny California winters. As a kid who didn’t know any different, I thought he was crazy.

“It’s not too bad.” He’d start, “We have a fire going, and the barn has fresh bedding for the animals. We’re good.” My uncle’s voice would say over the crackling landline. Then he would read off a temperature that was somewhere between freezing and single digits.

“You get used to the temperature, mija.” He’d say with a laugh.

It’s true. You do.

My grandmother (mom’s mom), would always shake her head whenever we talked about him. She’d say something like “It’s too cold up there. You go outside and the hairs in your nose freeze. Oof!” This was always accompanied by a whole-body shiver that would make my mom laugh.

One of the challenges of living in Alaska is the winters and what to do during the five months of snow on the ground. I don’t ski, snowboard, or ice skate. I don’t like falling down. I guess that automatically makes me an old lady. Since moving up in 2020 I’ve leaned into other hobbies like crotchet, pottery, painting, writing, cooking, and reading. All things I had done before coming to Alaska, but found a renewed sense of joy in during the winter months. But as someone who lives life in the outdoors for half the year, it is difficult to spend five months indoors. I’ve been fortunate enough to ease this indoor stress with travel. Naturally that travel will always include some kind of fishing. This year, the destination is Panama. But more on that later.

The new-to-me indoor hobby I’ve decided to pickup this winter is fly tying. Specifically learning the patterns we use year-round and will be using for our trip to Panama. I’ve put off learning to tie flies because it’s intimidating. The patterns, the material, the artistry in fly tying is a lot. My goal at the end of winter is to have my very own box of flies I’ve tied and that I can use all summer long.

Winter 2024/2025 manifestation:
Create Own Box of Flies for Summer Adventures

There, I’ve set it. Now hold me to it!

Between planning the Panama trip and tying flies, I have one more goal for this winter: building my fly fishing library.

Winter 2024/2025 manifestation:
Start Fly Fishing Library with an emphasis on female and diverse angler perspectives

One of the motivations behind writing Breaking the Bubble Line was representation. When I first started fly fishing, I didn’t see myself as someone who fly fishes because when I looked in magazines, watched videos, and looked through tutorials, I didn’t see me. I didn’t see someone who looked like me. I didn’t see someone who had a story similar to mine. I want to build a library with women’s stories and cultural histories that aren’t only A River Runs Through It or a Hemingway novella. The next series of posts this winter will be centered on that goal with book reviews and discussions to share the stories and information that’s out there for people who want to learn more about the sport. In between, there will still be stories of our adventures and travels (aka Panama) and maybe even some of the patterns I am learning to tie. Thank you so much for coming along with me on this journey so far. I am excited for this next chapter of the blog and learning adventures in fly fishing.